Iraq forces 'killed 255 Sunni prisoners': HRW

Iraq forces 'killed 255 Sunni prisoners': HRW

BBC Online

Iraqi forces and mainly Shia Muslim volunteers arrive in the predominantly-Sunni Muslim city of Samarra, 124 kms from Baghdad on July 2, 2014, to protect the Shiite Muslim Al-Askari shrine which embraces the tombs of the 10th and 11th Imams, Ali Al-Hadi his son Hassan Al-Askari, as Jihadist militants of the Islamic State (IS) overrun a large chunk of northern and north-central Iraq. Photo: Getty Images

Iraqi security forces and government-affiliated militias appear to have executed at least 255 prisoners since 9 June, a human rights group says.

The killings appeared to be retaliation for attacks by the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

The prisoners were all Sunni Muslims, while the majority of security forces and militia were Shia, they added.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurds have reportedly taken over two oilfields in the north.

Most of the executions took place as Iraqi forces fled advancing Isis fighters, HRW said in a statement.

The killings took place in six Iraqi villages: Mosul, Tal Afar, Baquba, Jumarkhe, Rawa and Hilla, HRW reported.

'KILLING SPREES'

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"The mass extrajudicial killings may be evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity, and appear to be revenge killings for atrocities by Isis," the statement said.

Last month, Isis insurgents seized huge swathes of north-western Iraq. The group has gained a reputation for brutal rule in the areas that it controls.

Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director, said: "While the world rightly denounces the atrocious acts of Isis, it should not turn a blind eye to sectarian killing sprees by government and pro-government forces."

The HRW statement added that the executions, which it documented based primarily on interviews with eyewitnesses and officials, "may be evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity".

The current conflict in Iraq has acquired strong sectarian overtones. The Shia-led government is struggling against predominantly Sunni Isis fighters, and other Sunni rebel groups.

Meanwhile, reports say the Iraqi Kurds have taken over the northern Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields, amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad.

The Iraqi oil ministry has condemned the seizure, saying it expects Kurdish fighters to "support security forces in confronting terrorist groups rather than using the conditions to raid and occupy oil fields".